Drum for washing machines



Get. 9 1923. 1,469,975

W. G. WAGENHALS DRUM FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Jan. 24. 1921 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 9, 1923.

WILLIAM WAGENHALS, OF SAGINAW, JVIICHIGAN.

DRUM FOR WASHING MACHINES.

Application filed January 24, 1921. Serial No. 439,547.

To all whom it may concern. Be it known that I, lVILLIAM G. lVAoEN- HALs, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drums for Washin Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsvto make and use the same.

This invention relates .to washing machines and pertains more particularly to an improved construction and arrangement of the interior bafiies of the drum of a washing machine, the drum being of that type adapted to operate by revolving continuously in one direction. 7

The objects of my invention-are to provide in a Continuously rotatable washing machine drum an improved arrangement of battles within the drum adapted to so manipulate the materials being washed that those materials at each revolution of the drum will be subjected to the impact of quantities of water forcibly directed against the materials so as to pass entirely through them. After this first rinsing action, the materials are partially drained and then, by reason of the relative location of the baffles, are thrown from the advancing face of one baflie to the receding face of the next battle ahead, the materials being turned upside down while being thrown from one baffle to the other. After striking the second battle and while resting thereon, the materials pas around to the lower periphery of the drum, thereby being again partially turned over, and are then forcibly thrown or slapped against the advancing side of the baflie upon which the materials originally rested.

My invention pertains more specifically to the relative angular arrangement of the interior battles whereby the above-mentioned operations are performed upon each lot of material during one revolution of the drum.

It is old in the art to provide the revolving drums of washing machines with radi ally disposed interior baffles, but by my improved arrangement of bafiles I am enabled to eatly increase the effectiveness of the was ing operation and also to increase the capacity of the machine and decrease t e time required for washing agiven lot of material.

lVith these and certain other objects in view which will appear later in the specification, myinvention comprises the devices described and claimed and the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a washing machine drum embodying my improvements, the drum being shown with one end removed.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of the drum shown in Fig. 1, the flow of the water inside the drum and the flushing being indicated by dotted lines and the turning and beating operations of the baffles as above described indicated by the representation of the materials in the various successive positions.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, 1 indicates a drum of a washing machine, preferably of the type adapted to operate by revolving continuously in one direction. 2 is the slatted exterior surface of the drum, the successive slats or their equivalent-s arranged to deflect streams of waterinto the drum in a direction substantially along the interior periphery of the drum. These streams are produced by revolving the drum while its lower periphery ,issubmerged.

My impovement, as above noted, relates particularly to the relative arrangement of the baflies 3, 4 and 5, which are preferably perforated as indicated at 6.

Any suitable number of baflles may be employed, but I have for purpose of illustration shown an arrangement of three battles.

The dotted lines, as 7, show that the advancing surface of bafiies 3 if projected would be substantially tangent to an imaginary cylinder described inside of and coaxial with the cylindrical. drum. The advancing surface of baflle 3, as indicated by line 7, preferably intersects the receding surface of baffle 1-, and similarly the advancin surfaces of battles 4 and 5 would preferabTy if projected, intersect the receding surfaces of battles 5 and 3 respectively.

The purpose of this angular or non-radial bafiie arrangement, or its equivalents, which constitutes the essential feature of my invention, will be understood by reference to F ig. 2, in which material being Washed is shown on the advancing surface of baflle 3, the drum being revolved in the direction of the arrows.

The bafies, beside being perforated, are of suitable width to serve as trays or platforms to carry the materials in a mass bodily to the upper part of the drum into the position indicated at 3.

From the position 3, the material falls, and in falling turns over and lands upside down on the upper or receding surface of baflle 4. Throwing the material thus from the advancing surface of 'one bafilc to the receding surface of the next baflle ahead is made possible by the fact that the baflles are non-radial, the non-radial arrangement being preferably such that the plane of the advancing surface of one baflie, if projected, will intersect the plane of the receding surface of the next baffie ahead, as above described. I

Bafile 4, with the clothes on its upper surface, soon passes below the level of the water on the outside of the drum, and

streams of water spurt inward against the material through the spaces between the slats or louvers 2 and through the bafile perforations. When the material has reached the bottom of the periphery of the drum, it drops over upon the slats, the streams of water being now directed against it from underneath. The material rolls over rearwardly upon the slats, being impelled by the inrushing water, and is forcibly met by the advancing face of the next baflle, so that at the end of the first revolution of the drum it rests on the advancing side of the baffle, the water pouring through the spaces between the bafiies and striking the material from above and passing through the material and the perfora-v tions, as shown at baflie 5 in Fig. 2.

Heretofore it has been difficult in washing -machines employing continuously revolving slatted drums, to avoidthe tendency of the materials to roll up into balls, or to form cylindrical rolls, or to tangle.

I have found in practice, however, that. a continuously revolving slatted drum provided with bafiies arranged substantially as herein described not only prevents the forming of rolls or balls of the material, but also mea re throwing it from one bafiie to the next baffie ahead, then rolling it over while submerged, impinging it forcibly against the advancing face of the next succeeding baflie and then carrying it upward through streams of water that are forced downward through the material from above.

It has been found in practical use of the machine herein described, that the required tray or bafiie operations of bodily lifting the clothes to the top of the drum, throwing them upside down upon the next bafiie ahead, etc., are satisfactorily performed with a drum containing three trays or baffies, but with two baffles or more than three the work is not so well performed. I, therefore, prefer to employ three battles in practice.

I thus secure not only the advantages of the continuously revolving drum type of machine, but I also employ flushing, turning, rolling and beating'actions, whichare generally recognized as being essential for the proper and effective washingof clothes and similar articles. These automatic manipulations are made possible by the tangential or non-radial arrangement of the baffies substantially as herein set forth.

Having thus described my'invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In combination, a rotatable drum for washing machines, said drum having a continuous cylindrical surface, a set of three longitudinally disposed perforated baflles enclosed within said drum, said baflles so located with respect to each other that the projecting plane of the advancing surface of one of said bafliesinterseets the plane of the receding surface of the next bafiie ahead, said baffles being of sufficient width to serve as trays to carry materials in a mass bodily to the upper part of said drum and to discharge therefrom onto the rearward face of the next bafiie ahead, for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM G. WAGENHALS. 

